Salemi finishes career-best
11th at Waterford
By Scott Collins
John Salemi Racing
July 24, 2005
WATERFORD, Conn. — BNS rookie of the year
contender John Salemi survived a wild race on
Saturday night to come home a career best
11th in the Town Fair Tire 150 at the Waterford
Speedbowl. After starting the race in 24th
position on a provisional, Salemi managed to stay out of serious trouble, keep the car on the track, and bring the #63 DelCorp Pontiac home with a serious bid at a top 10 finish.
“The day starting off a little disappointing for us, but ended with a lot of excitement. We lost 3 tenths on our qualifying lap from practice. Its was clear from the moment I pulled out in practice this afternoon that it was going to be important to start up front at this track,” John recalls. “We are still missing something with our qualifying setups, but we have an excellent car for the races. Each week, we consistently move up through the field and challenge a lot of good cars.”
John took the green for the race in 24th position and quickly moved up through the field. “My goal was to move up as soon as possible and stay on the lead lap, “ says John. The race was filled with cautions, as cars were spinning all over the place though out the course of the night. “Its a tight track, with a very narrow groove. There was little opportunity to pass, so we did our best to stay out of trouble.”
Salemi wasn’t able to completely keep the car clean during the race, however. Several small incidents occurred that collected John, but the damage was not serious enough to require a pit stop. “We got into trouble a couple of different times out there. Its a real short, tight track, so these things are going to happen. We tore most of the nose right off the car at about the halfway point of the race. My crew could see the bumper bars from the pit area on the left front because half the nose was gone. Luckily, we didn’t have any tire rub and the radiator wasn’t damaged.”
Salemi did not pit during the night and found himself running 7th with under ten laps to go. There were multiple cautions in the late stages of the race. On the final restart a couple of quick cars got by John and dropped him down to an 11th. “We are very happy with the finish. The entire team is making a lot of progress. We have gone from missing the race at Stafford about a month ago, to having a borderline top 10 car. We also won the Powerade Award for the first time, which is something to be proud of.” The Powerade Award is given out each race to the driver who gains the most positions during the race.
The Busch North Series returns to action this coming Saturday night for the Edge Hotel 150 at the Adirondack Speedway. Sponsorship opportunities are available with John Salemi Racing. For more info email marketing@johnsalemiracing.com or visit the team website at http://www.johnsalemiracing.com.
